Oscillation
by Fliers
Summary: Luka is the rich, popular, and bored heiress to a big nightcub in the city, who's riding high until she gets rejected by a nerd. What do you give a girl who has everything? Luka/Miku
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everyone! Here is yet another Miku/Luka fic from me. I, uh, I swear I can write other pairings too! Really! Anyways, I decided to give writing a club hookup fic a shot for Femslash Day, except, it ended up not being a club hookup fic at all. I'm aware that Nuclear Eggs also wrote one - I hope mine is different enough from his/her's to avoid confusion. Hope you enjoy!**

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The bass was low and thumping, the club was dark, and Luka was bored. Her days were always the same - wake up sometime in the morning, go to school, go home, read a book (not that Luka would ever admit to reading anything to her friends, she had a reputation to keep), and do whatever she wanted.

Most of the time she ended up back here, in Club World's End, because there were, well, there were people to hang out with, music to dance to, shots to take, always something to do to keep herself occupied. A quick jaunt down to the club was usually enough to make Luka feel on top of the world. With all these people telling her how great she was, how could she _not_ be great?

After all, she was Megurine Luka, heiress of Club World's End, surrounded by sound, rich and popular and wanted. Ever since she could remember, there were the reverberating walls, the pounding beats, the flashing lights, the endless drinks, the horde of people flocking around her, everything she ever wanted at her fingertips.

Still, none of that fixed her boredom right now. Even Luka got tired of the same endless routine, the same rhythms and melodies. She sipped her drink and glanced around, casting about the club for something interesting, when she saw her.

There she was on the lower level, a nervous-looking girl getting dragged in by her friends, an overenthusiastic-looking pair of twins. They didn't look familiar, Luka had never seen them before, so she figured that they were new. Still, the girl caught her eye.

For one, Luka could see, even from this distance, her teal hair, almost neon in the flashing lights of the club. For two, she looked horribly out of place. Her posture was closed, shy. Her clothes were plain daytime ones - hoodie, _white_ sneakers - unsuited for a night out. The twins, on the other hand, were dressed trendily; clearly, they were the ones who were interested in actually clubbing.

Luka felt her lips pull up in a smirk. She leaned over to whoever was sitting closest to her, she didn't really care, and whispered in their ear. "Check out that girl." Luka gestured with her drink, ice-cubes clinking in the glass as she did.

"Who?" the person - Gakupo, as it turned out - turned to look at the girl, and he arched an eyebrow before letting out a brief laugh and shaking his head. "Looks like a nerd. How the hell did she get in?"

"I know, right?" Luka took another sip from her glass, eyes trained on the girl. Her friends were apparently trying to cajole her into something, and the girl was shaking her head frantically.

"You should talk to her," said Gakupo.

Luka laughed. "What, me?"

"Sure," said Gakupo with a shrug. "Why not, right? You're Megurine Luka." He said the name as though it was an esteemed title, and Luka mulled it over. Talk to her? Why not? She might as well, right? She _was_ bored, with nothing else to do, and the girl didn't look bad from this distance...her looks were probably how she managed to get into the club, despite her overly casual clothing. Luka could already see the night's events play out in her head, a repetition of many nights before. This girl might put up a token resistance, but really, no one could resist Luka for long. Especially not after they found out who she was; after that, they usually start to throw themselves all over her.

"Sure," Luka echoed. "Why not." With a grunt she got up from her seat on the couch, placing her drink down on the table before walking down the stairs from the second level to the dance floor. Her eyes were trained on the new girl, who was currently engaged in arguing about something with her friends. Luka casually walked up to them. Her mind was already on autopilot. This would be easy.

"Hey," Luka said, grinning. "I haven't seen you three around here before. I'm Megurine Luka."

At that, the twins' eyes widened and they immediately broke off their argument with the teal-haired girl, turning towards Luka. Obviously they recognized the name, though, the teal-haired girl only looked confused by their reactions.

"You're Megurine Luka?" the boy twin said, his eyes wide as he gaped at her. "I...yeah, we're new. I'm, uh, Kagamine Len."

"I'm Rin!" said the girl twin. Her face was faintly flushed with excitement - she seemed as though she was on a sort of club high, her feet tapping in time with the beat. She turned towards the teal-haired girl and tugged her sleeve. "Introduce yourself, Miku!"

The teal-haired girl - Miku - stared at Rin before looking at Luka. Luka's breath caught. At this distance, the girl was beautiful, her skin soft and pale, her eyes large in the darkened club, strobe lights casting colored shadows on her face. That, coupled with her long twintails and plain outfit, made her look strangely innocent in the debauched realm of World's End.

"Hi..." said Miku, softly, so softly Luka had to strain to hear her over the pounding backbeat. "I'm Hatsune Miku."

"Hatsune Miku," Luka repeated, to make sure she got it, letting the name roll around her mouth. It was easy to say, simple to remember. "It's very nice to meet you...three. Care for some drinks?" Luka could already sense the people gathering, glancing at the heiress of the club and the three she was talking to. The rumor mill was beginning to crank and churn, though the three here seemed oblivious.

"Uh," Miku said, "we can't drink. We're underage."

Rin groaned. "Miku!"

Luka laughed. "So am I, but no one cares." That wasn't entirely true - the club cared, but Luka was the perennial exception as the owner's daughter. "Come on," she added, grinning. "It's Club World's End."

Before Miku could protest further, her friends were already enthusiastically agreeing, and from then on it was a simple matter of ordering them drinks. Since they all seemed to be the inexperienced type, Miku especially, Luka figured that a rum and coke would be inoffensive enough. Now, what she needed to do was to get Miku alone.

Miku sipped at her drink as though it was some kind of unpleasant medicine. Luka glanced at her from the side. Miku's hoodie was so baggy Luka could barely make out her figure.

"So," said Luka, "what's the occasion?"

"Vacation!" Rin shouted over the noise. "We're from Okina."

"Oh, Okina," Luka said, not recognizing the name at all, but nodding anyways.

"It's two hours away by bus," said Len.

Right. Whatever, like Megurine Luka could be assed to know the name of every town near the city. "Are you three going to dance?"

"Of course!" said Rin, obviously shocked by the very idea of not dancing. She then turned towards Miku. "Miku, come on! You dance too! We didn't drag you out here just so that you can sit and be a...be a lump at the bar!"

That was her cue. Luka smiled. "Don't worry," she said. "I'll make sure she dances."

Rin's eyes widened in surprise for a brief moment before she started to grin at Miku. "Wow, Miku! I'm impressed. Who knew you had it in you? We'll leave her to you then, Luka." She then turned towards Len. "Come on, Len!"

Len glanced at Luka, and then at Miku. "Um...are you sure, Rin?"

Rin rolled her eyes. "Of course I'm sure!" With that, she grabbed Len by his wrist and practically dragged him off the chair. Miku and Luka watched them leave for a moment, and then Luka turned towards Miku, opening her mouth to say something, but Miku beat her to it.

"I don't dance," said Miku. She stared down at the backlit bartop. "Just so you know. I'm awful at it." She laughed, her voice nearly drowned by snaking bass and libidinous vocals.

"Don't be silly," said Luka. "I bet you're great at dancing. Just give it a try." Despite her words and her interested posture - body turned towards Miku, slightly leaning forward - Luka felt disconnected from the night's events, her words, this routine, rote by now. She introduced herself, the friends left, she got the girl alone, now for the next step. The phrases came out of her mouth automatically. "It's simple. Just move your body to the music."

"I don't know," Miku said. "I'm not really into this kind of thing."

Well, Luka could figure that much herself from Miku's clothes. "You're on vacation. Nothing wrong with cutting loose."

Miku glanced backwards at the mass of gyrating bodies behind her before returning her gaze to the countertop of the bar, her finger drawing invisible patterns. Her eyes were distant, her face lit up by colored lights. "I don't know," she said, again.

Luka's eyes dipped down towards Miku's virtually untouched drink, and she began to say something, but Miku had started talking again.

"I didn't really want to go, to be honest," Miku said. "Rin and Len really wanted to, that's all." There was a brief pause. "Uh...you seem like you come here a lot."

"Of course I do," Luka said. "My dad owns the place."

Miku blinked. "Oh."

"So?" Luka looked over at Miku. "Would you like to dance? Your friends seem like they're enjoying themselves."

Miku shook her head, eyes still distant. "No, that's okay. I don't think I should, I'm not really into this kind of thing," Miku gestured at the club with an all-encompassing gesture, effectively dismissing Luka's entire lifestyle. "But thank you for the offer, and the drink. I think I'll go now."

It took a bit for Miku's words to fully phase into Luka's consciousness, and when they did, it was likes someone tossed cold water at her. Wait, hold up, _what?_ Luka's eyes widened. The rejection was an electric shock, sending Luka out of her autopilot haze, thrusting her mind back fully into the realm of life, back into Club World's End, the driving force of the music beneath her feet, the sheer kinetic energy of the place bouncing around her insides, making her even more disoriented than before. What just happened? There was no way this girl just said that. When Luka began to talk, it was with the energy of someone awoken from a bad dream. What Miku was doing broke all procedure. First, and most importantly, one doesn't say no to Luka, and second, one doesn't just ditch their friends in a club. "Wait, what? What about your friends, Rin and Len?"

"You'll take them home, right? I trust you," said Miku with a hopelessly naive smile, the strobe lights flashing across her face. With one glance Luka could tell that Miku actually _did,_ the idiot. "You seem like you're a nice person." With those words, Miku was wriggling out of Luka's grasp as easily as a fish.

Many words had been used to describe Luka. Nice was not one of them, and the word stung, though why, Luka didn't know. She dropped the act. "What? Nice? _Me?_ Are you kidding?" Luka laughed. "I'm Megurine Luka. What, did you think I bought you all drinks out of the goodness of my heart?" Miku's innocence seemed so out of place in the club, it ground against Luka's nerves.

Miku laughed as though Luka had said a funny joke, and continued on as though Luka hadn't said anything at all. "We're staying at the Wintermute. It's close, like, two blocks away, so drop Rin and Len off there when they're done."

"Wait," said Luka. "You can't just order me around, I'm-"

"Megurine Luka, I know," Miku interrupted with a smile, and then she was gone, leaving Luka sitting on a barstool, staring, while the club danced and whispered around her.

xxx

"Looks like you got rejected," said some blonde girl - Lily? - with a glee that was bordering on sinister.

"Whatever," said Luka. "I don't care." She took a huge gulp of Miku's abandoned drink. "Can you believe her? She told me to take her friends back to the Wintermute when they were done, like I'm a-"

"Are you going to?" Lily asked, glancing behind her at the crowd.

"Of course not," said Luka. "It's not like I'm their friend."

Lily laughed. "Right, right. You're Megurine Luka. Though, if you want to dance...?" Lily trailed off, the suggestion hanging in the air.

Luka didn't bother to look at her. "Maybe later. I'm not in the mood."

Lily sighed and shrugged. "Suit yourself, then."

Luka didn't watch her leave - her attention was focused solely on her drink. After Miku rejected her, her insides were churning. Even now, Luka could hardly believe it. How could someone, especially a nerd like Miku, reject her? That had never happened before. And this Miku person didn't just reject her, she also saddled Luka, a stranger, with the responsibility of looking after her friends, like a total idiot. What kind of girl _does_ that?

Despite herself, Luka glanced back, casting her eyes about for the twins. She couldn't find them. Her eyebrows furrowed and she looked a little more intently, but no matter where she looked, she couldn't find anything. _Shit,_ that was bad. If they weren't on the dance floor, they could only be in a few other places - the bathrooms, the second floor, or hidden away in a darkened corner somewhere. Luka felt an unfamiliar dread in her gut and began to get up before she felt two hands clap themselves on her shoulders. Luka started, and then two grinning, nearly identical faces plopped themselves down beside her. The dread disappeared, replaced by an inexplicable and small sense of relief. Not that Luka would admit to that, or anything.

"Hey Luka," said Len, face flushed from dancing. His hair had fallen into disarray. "Where's Miku?" The guy was speaking a lot more casually than he was before, loosened up by drinks and sound.

"She left," said Luka.

"What?" Rin's eyes widened. Her hair was also mussed, face faintly red. "How could she...did she dance at all?"

"No," said Luka. "She just left."

"Party pooper," Rin muttered. "Can't believe she ditched us."

Some girl had started talking to Len. Luka moved away from him a little. "Yeah."

"What time is it?" Rin asked.

"Still early," Luka said. "It's only one in the morning." She didn't miss Rin's covetous glance at the line of bottles behind the counter, and Luka sighed. "How much did you drink?"

"Just whatever you gave us," said Rin, and then her eyes lit up with excitement. "Hey, hey! Can we do shots?"

"Shots?"

"Yeah, shots!"

Luka raised her eyebrows briefly before turning back to the counter. She picked up her empty glass, stared through it. The club became a kaleidoscope of colors and lights. Miku's trusting face flashed through her mind, and Luka sighed. Even though it's only one in the morning, this night felt like one of the longest in her life.

xxx

The cool night breeze, the sedate darkness of the city in comparison to the bright lights of Club World's End, greeted the three as they left the club. Rin and Len were soused, and they leaned against Luka for support as Luka navigated her way through the streets. Her tolerance was rather high, and she didn't take any shots at all, which helped. She also controlled the amount Len and Rin took, so they weren't too bad off. Half of their drunkenness was, Luka suspected, an act helped along by the energy of clubbing, mixed with tiredness from dancing.

"That was _awesome,"_ said Rin, laughing between words. "Thanks, Luka."

Len looked sullen. "I was getting along really well with Gumi," he said, "and then you two dragged me out."

Rin rolled her eyes. "Chill out, Len! There'll be other times. Man, I leave you alone for five seconds and you become some kind of playboy."

"I am," said Len, words indignantly slurred, _"not_ a playboy."

"Oh, yeah, sure. Remember that Spice song you sang last month?"

Len's face went even redder than it was before. "Th-that was-"

"Exactly my point," Rin said, bowling over whatever Len had to say. "See, that's why you...you..." Rin paused and thought. "You..."

Luka was only half-listening to their conversation, and ahead she could see the tall Wintermute Hotel. It was a pretty sleek and modern place, and when they entered, the lobby was a dimly lit, thumping space, the couches low to the ground, the people at the counter well-dressed in suits, all slick lights and sound, the atmosphere eerily similar to the club they had just left. The twins probably insisted on staying here, Luka figured.

"Hey, we're back in a club!" Rin cried. "Luka, you're the best! Are we party-hopping?"

"Rin," said Len, "I think this is our hotel..."

"Your brother's right," said Luka. "What room are you guys in?"

"Uhh, thirtieth floor..." Rin screwed up her face in deep concentration as Luka ushered the twins into an elevator, "room sixteen." Luka pressed the button for the thirtieth floor, and the elevator began to rise. Luka stared down at the clean, backlit floor of the elevator, faint blue light on her heels. Eventually, the elevator slowed at the thirtieth floor, doors opening to reveal a sleek, dark hallway - inconveniently so, Luka could hardly make out what room was what.

Eventually, Luka found and knocked at a door marked 'sixteen'. It opened, a rather sleepy-looking Miku peering out. Her hair was down, and she was dressed in an oversized graphic T-shirt and shorts - her pajamas, Luka guessed.

"I brought your friends," said Luka, rocking on her heels and wondering why she decided to do this.

Miku looked and smiled, opening the door wider. "Hey!" She was holding a book, Luka noticed, and despite herself, she felt a stir of curiosity. What kind of books did Miku read? None of Luka's friends read, and Luka kept her own book-reading habits secret, so actually seeing someone else hold a book was a novelty.

"Hey Miku," Rin said, dragging out the vowels as she walked in, Len closely following after her. "Why'd you leave? Just to read a book? That's so lame. You're so lame."

Miku laughed. "Sorry, Rin. But you two got back! Luka took care of you two, right?" She turned towards Luka, grinning widely. She seemed a lot more comfortable here as opposed to in World's End, her movements looser and freer. Now that the light was better and Miku wasn't wearing that atrocious hoodie, Luka could see that the girl really _was_ beautiful, her legs long, body slim, her fingers delicate and...Luka suddenly realized that she had let a silence stretch from when Miku first asked the question, a silence that was quickly beginning to turn awkward. Luka felt her face heat up and she looked away.

"Yeah, I guess," Luka muttered. She glanced at the book Miku was holding, but all she could see was the back cover. Still, Miku seemed to notice her interest, for she smiled and held the book up.

"I'm reading number9dream," she said. "Have you heard of it?"

Of course Luka had heard of it. In fact, she had a copy of it. Not only that, but she had all of the author's books too. Luka tried to quell the rising excitement in her chest, that jolt of recognition when she saw the cover. It wouldn't do to get excited, to go on and on about how the book plays with imagination and reality. The heiress of Club World's End wasn't the kind of person who would gush about books. In fact, as far as the city was concerned, Megurine Luka wasn't the kind of person who read books at all. However, at the same time, Luka had never really talked with anyone about books before, and what was the harm of talking to Miku about it? She was on vacation, so it wasn't as though they would form any attachments, and it wasn't as though Miku would start become integrated in the social life of the city...right?

"I've...heard of it," said Luka, words slowly dragging themselves out of her mouth. There was long pause, then, quickly, the words rushed out all together: "I have it."

At that, Miku's eyes widened and her smile grew even wider. "Wow! Really? You have it? That's great! No one else I know has even _heard_ of it." Miku quickly brushed some of her hair out of her face, a casual flick that seemed impossibly attractive. "I didn't know you liked to read."

_Of course you don't,_ Luka wanted to say. _No one does._ But she didn't say that. Instead, she shrugged. "When I have the time I do."

"Wow," said Miku, again. She sounded completely awed by this revelation, to the point where Luka began to feel a little self-conscious. "You didn't seem like the kind of person who would. Uh..." Miku paused and thought a little. "Oh! Have you read _Breakfast at Tiffany's_?"

"No. Isn't that a movie?"

"Yeah, it's a movie, but it's also a book. You definitely need to read it! Murakami translated it."

"Murakami...Ryu?" Luka asked, uncertainly. She wasn't very up to date on who translated what.

"What?" Miku laughed. "Of course not! The other one did. Come on," Miku opened the door wider. "I'll lend you my copy."

Luka stared at the boundary between room and hallway before staring at Miku. She was suddenly aware of the reversal in their roles.

"Uh," said Luka. "It's kind of late."

To Luka's surprise, disappointment flickered in Miku's eyes. "Oh...right," Miku said with a sheepish smile. "Well, if you don't want to, that's fine. I just thought, um..." Miku trailed off, face faintly red, and her teal eyes glanced down at the floor.

Luka's heart clenched inexplicably, and she took a breath. What the hell was she doing? Why wasn't she leaving? Really, it was what this girl deserved for ditching Club World's End. By now, Luka should have left. In fact, she shouldn't have brought Rin and Len here anyways, they were Miku's responsibility, not Luka's. Come to think of it, Luka shouldn't even have listened to that idiot Gakupo in the first place. Luka prepared herself to refuse.

"Well...I guess it wouldn't hurt," said Luka, to her own surprise.

Miku looked up at Luka, eyes wide. A tentative smile played about her lips. "Really?"

Luka shrugged. "I mean, I should be back now, but it's only two in the morning, whatever. No big deal."

"Right," said Miku with a laugh. "You're Megurine Luka, after all." That said, she stepped aside and let Luka in. Luka stared down at the boundary between inside and outside the room again before she took a breath and went in. Miku closed the door behind her with a soft click before bounding off, Luka following after her as her eyes took in the details of the room. Two beds, a TV, black wood desk, black metal chair, a bathroom to the side, a window with a view of the glittering lights of the city. Rin was lying on the bed, eyes closed, and Len had apparently disappeared into the bathroom or something, because he wasn't anywhere to be seen in the room itself.

"Here it is!" Miku said, and Luka returned her attention to her. The girl was holding a hardcover copy of _Breakfast at Tiffany's_ in her hands. "It's one of my favorite books."

"Really?" said Luka as she took it. It was surprisingly slim.

"Really," Miku smiled. "The prose is so good. It's like...not a sentence is wasted, you know? It's a great character sketch too. Besides, I think it's relevant."

Luka may not have read, or watched, Breakfast at Tiffany's before, but she was familiar enough with the basic story. There was some girl and some guy and they fall in love or something...something like that, at any rate. "Relevant...to what?"

Miku grinned and shrugged. "It's-"

"Miku," Rin groaned from the bed, "stop being such a geek."

Miku frowned at her friend before turning back towards Luka. "Well...just read it and let me know what you think of it. I really want to know!"

Luka raised her eyebrows and glanced down at the book, weighing it in her hand. It really was thin - more of a novella than a novel - so Luka figured that she could read through it quickly enough. "Well, okay. When do you want it back by?"

"Anytime is fine," said Miku, smiling. "Just whenever you're done, give it back."

That was vague. Wasn't Miku on vacation? If she had to leave tomorrow, Luka could hardly be expected to read through the whole thing in a few hours. "When do you go back to Okina?"

"A week," said Miku. "But if takes longer than that for you to finish, you can just send it to me. Actually, I won't be in my hotel room all the time either this week, so you can text me, or..." Miku trailed off, a faint line between her eyebrows. "Oh, you don't have my number." Miku looked back up at Luka. "Hey, I know I just met you, and this is-"

"Just put your number in my phone," said Luka, and Miku grinned sheepishly at her.

xxx

Luka walked home carrying the copy of _Breakfast at Tiffany's_. Her heart felt strangely full, and she stared at the cover of the book. Luka stopped at a streetlight and carefully opened it, the book's spine cracking. She ran her fingers down creamy white paper and sighed, snapping the book shut.

This was how she spent her Friday night, Luka thought. Getting rejected, watching over the friends of the person who rejected her, and then getting lent a book to top it all off. What a night.

Still, despite all that, Luka felt better than she had in a long while. The night air was crisp and refreshing, and she took a deep breath. For the first time in a long time, Luka found herself looking forward to morning.


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, this chapter is a little weird...this is what month long breaks between updates does to me I guess haha. Thanks for all the reviews, faves, and alerts, hope you enjoy!**

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The next morning, Luka read the book Miku lent her as she ate her breakfast of toast and coffee. Seeing how Miku would be leaving in a week, Luka felt she should get the book done quickly. It was thin, so it shouldn't take long, and from what she knew, it was a breezy read - something about a man and a woman in 1920s New York, nothing mind-breaking.

So, when Luka read the first few lines of the book, she was surprised to find that it wasn't about a man and a woman in 1920s New York at all. It also had nothing to do with eating breakfast at Tiffany's, and all the back cover of the book had was a forbidding picture of the author, a black and white photo of a bespectacled man staring at the reader, face expressionless.

Luka shrugged and took a bite out of her toast, becoming more immersed in the book the more she read. It was about a mysterious young woman at a train station in a remote mountain village, with unexplained scars on her face. At the beginning of the book, she was sabotaging the engine of a train, but then, she proceeded to feign annoyance with the rest of the passengers about the train being delayed and being 'forced' to stay in the village. The villagers, however, were shifty, and there seemed to be some subtle thread, a dark, shadowy past, connecting them all. The narrative was written in a very distant third person perspective that refused to let the reader into any of the characters' heads, and each action seemed surreal and strange. The seventeenth page was a cliffhanger, the end of a chapter, with the main character getting lost after following directions written on the back of a business card to a shrine.

Fully immersed in the story, Luka turned to the next page, only to find that the eighteenth page began with a mysterious young woman at a train station in a remote mountain village, with unexplained scars on her face, sabotaging the engine of a train. What? Luka's eyebrows furrowed and she flipped back to the first page of the book. Sure enough, the first page and the eighteenth page were exactly the same. After flipping through the rest of the book, it was clear that the rest of the book was just the first seventeen pages repeated over and over, until the end cut off in the middle of a sentence.

For a moment, Luka did nothing but stare at the book. She flipped it over, stared at the back cover with the serious-faced novelist once more, flipped through the book again. No matter how much she looked at it, the book was clearly messed up. In fact, Luka was pretty sure that the book within its pages wasn't _Breakfast at Tiffany's_ at all, because Luka may not have read the book before, but she had heard of the movie, and the movie had nothing to do with mysterious young women in remote mountain villages.

Was this some kind of weird postmodern trick? Luka slipped the book out of the paper cover and checked the spine. _Breakfast at Tiffany's_ was printed there in golden letters, accompanied with the author's name: Truman Capote. She then flipped to the disclaimer.

_This is a work of fiction,_ it began. _Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously._ The rest of the page proceeded to give copyright to Truman Capote.

Luka ate the last bite of her toast, mind racing. Was this really what _Breakfast at Tiffany's_ was about? Was it seriously a weird book about mysterious women, mysterious villagers, and mysterious towns? Was the movie a big meta-joke? Miku did say something about the book and the movie being different, but no matter how one put it, Luka was sure that the movie adaptation of a book would have to have at least _some _similarities with the book, beyond name. For the movie to be about a man and a woman in 1920s New York, and the book to be about some scarred girl who sabotages trains in mountain villages...that was just ridiculous.

Luka grabbed her phone and looked up the summary of the book on Wikipedia. Like the movie, the book was about a man and a woman in 1920s New York, and had nothing to do with trains or villages at all. To be sure, Luka checked the rest of the books Capote wrote. None of them were about what Luka had just read. Luka slowly sipped her now-lukewarm coffee. What the hell? What was Miku's problem? If this was one of her favorite books, surely she would have known that the book she gave Luka was completely wrong. And besides, what kind of book did she give Luka anyways? It certainly wasn't anything written by Truman Capote, and for the first seventeen pages to repeat itself across one hundred and seventy-eight pages was a huge oversight on part of the publisher.

Luka stared at the back cover once more, the author staring back at her. The more she stared at it, the more the author's face seemed to take on a vague, confused air, like that of a put-upon teacher struggling to understand his own curriculum. Clearly there were no answers to be had there. Luka sighed and flipped through the pages again. The story was cut off in the middle of a sentence, as cleanly as a knife-cut through paper.

Great. Luka checked her watch. Ten in the morning. She didn't have much to do today - it was a Saturday, and Luka liked to keep her weekends relatively free - and Miku had given her her phone number last night. The best thing to do in this situation would be to call her and ask her what was going on. After all, this was Miku's book. She would probably know what was up with it. With luck, she might have a copy of the actual book Luka was reading too. Since the front page, binding, and cover all said that the book was _Breakfast at Tiffany's_, Luka had no way of knowing the title of the book she was _actually_ reading. For the book to cut off in the middle of a cliffhanger was bizarre, and Luka had to know what happened next. She called Miku and waited. It rung a few times before Miku picked up.

"Uhr...hello?" Miku mumbled, voice thick with sleepiness.

"Hey, this is Luka. So I read your book," Luka began, but Miku cut her off, voice energetic.

"Oh! Luka! Morning, you get started early huh? That was fast! What did you think about the ending?"

Miku's reply was so enthusiastic that Luka was taken aback. The Miku Luka met in the club seemed so much more subdued. Although, from what she was saying, Miku apparently had no idea that the book she lent Luka was messed up, in which case, what was going on? Did Miku intentionally lend Luka an effectively 'broken' copy of _Breakfast at Tiffany's_ to get Luka to call her back? Although, there was no reason for that, unless Miku was more socially awkward than Luka thought. In which case, did Miku just not read the book? Though that didn't make sense considering how enthusiastic she sounded about the book last night. Luka decided to just answer the question.

"I didn't finish it," she said, before she paused and added, "I _couldn't_ finish it."

"You couldn't finish it?" Miku said, and then there was a brief staticky yawn over the phone. "What do you mean?"

"Well...I had gotten to the part when the main character, the scarred girl, was hiking to a shrine and got lost-"

"Wait," said Miku. "What? What book were _you_ reading?"

"The book you lent me," said Luka. "_Breakfast at Tiffany's_. But listen, I think there's been a mistake. The book just stopped."

"What?" said Miku, again. "What are you talking about? _Breakfast at Tiffany's_ isn't about a girl hiking to a shrine."

"Right. I don't think the book you lent me was _Breakfast at Tiffany's_."

There was a pause before Miku spoke. "But the cover said _Breakfast at Tiffany's_."

"Did you read it?"

Another pause. "Uh, I read _Breakfast at Tiffany's_, yeah."

Luka ran a hand through her hair, thinking. Miku apparently had no idea about the book being different. Was Luka somehow misreading every word? But that was impossible. The page numbers didn't go on past seventeen either, so the eighteenth page said page one and the nineteenth said page two, and so on and so forth. Miku read _Breakfast at Tiffany's_, but at the same time, the book she gave Luka clearly wasn't _Breakfast at Tiffany's_. At any rate, it was clear that just talking over the phone would get them nowhere. "Okay, I think we need to meet up and talk about this. Whatever this book is, it's not _Breakfast at Tiffany's_."

"Um, okay," said Miku. "Sure. Where do you want to meet?"

"Lobby of Wintermute at eleven," said Luka, and she hung up.

xxx

At day, the main lobby of Wintermute was just as dark and thumping as night, the sleek black walls entirely devoid of windows. Luka sat on a subtly off-white chair and fiddled with her phone as she waited for Miku. The stark brightness of the light of the cellphone screen against the darkness of the lobby would have hurt Luka's eyes, if it wasn't for the fact that she had gotten used to it a long time ago.

"Hey," said Miku, appearing before Luka. She was dressed better than she was last night at Club World's End, having ditched the overly baggy hoodie and sweatpants for a comparatively more presentable tank top and jeans. "So, you have the book?"

"Yeah," Luka reached back into her bag and handed the book over to Miku.

Miku took it and opened it, eyes scanning through pages. The more she skimmed, the more confused she seemed, flipping backwards several times, checking the spine of the book and the endpages. After a few minutes, she closed the book, the sound quiet and subdued amongst the pounding beat of the hotel.

"That's not _Breakfast at Tiffany's_," said Miku, slowly.

"You didn't read the book you gave me?" Luka asked.

Miku shook her head. "I uh, I read _Breakfast at Tiffany's_, but I lost my old copy and bought a new copy here, I have no idea what story _this_ one is. It's definitely not anything by Capote, the writing style is completely different. Um, if you want, we can go to a bookstore and I'll get an actual copy of _Breakfast_-"

"No, that's fine," Luka interrupted. "I want to find out what I just read and finish that first. It's..." Luka instinctively glanced around the lobby in case anyone she knew was here. "It's an interesting book."

Miku blinked and looked around the lobby, apparently confused by Luka's behavior, before she shrugged and let it slide. "Yeah, it seems pretty cool," she said, eyes flicking down at the cover. "Like, a mystery-thriller, right?"

Luka shook her head. "No, it's not _just_ a mystery-thriller-"

Miku laughed, and Luka was struck once more with how much more comfortable Miku seemed, how relaxed her movements were compared to her cagey behavior at the club. "Sure, I'll read it after I get the actual book. I don't like starting books where more than half the pages are missing. Are the bookstores here open now?"

Oh. Luka didn't consider the prospect that Miku and Luka would have to go to a bookstore. Since reading books wasn't exactly the most lauded hobby in her circle of friends, Luka rarely went to bookstores. Were bookstores usually open at this time? It was eleven, so they _should_ be, but if Miku was asking, does that mean that bookstores generally kept later hours?

"Luka?" Miku said, and Luka snapped out of her thoughts. "Are the bookstores here open now?"

Luka shrugged and tried to look as careless as possible. "I don't know, I don't go to bookstores."

"You don't go to bookstores," said Miku, slowly, as though she was sounding out a sentence in a foreign language.

Luka fought down her blush. "I just order my books from Amazon."

Miku looked more and more doubtful by the second. "So you've never set foot in a bookstore?"

"I've _set foot_ in one," Luka said. "I just don't go to them often."

"Right, okay," said Miku. She studied the cover of the book. "Um, I think I still have the receipt for this in my room. That should have the hours of the bookstore on it."

"You need a receipt to exchange the book in the first place...where's Rin and Len?"

Miku glanced up at the ceiling, as though by doing so she could look into her hotel room. "Still sleeping. They wake up late. They might be up now, though...do you want to come up?"

Well, Luka figured, there was no reason not to. "Sure."

xxx

The inside of the hotel room was starkly different by day, compared to the darkness of the lobby. With the windows open and sunlight shining in, the room looked bright and cheerful, the sheets clean, if somewhat sloppily tucked in. Once in, Miku made a beeline for the desk near the window, where she began to look through the drawers. Rin and Len had apparently only just got up, still dressed in pajamas, watching television. At the sight of Luka, they gave a start.

"Wh-what are you doing here?" Len stammered, gaping at Luka as though she was a ghost.

"We won't be here long," Miku said. "We're just looking for receipts."

"Receipts?" said Rin. "Why receipts?"

"Sorry about the mess," Len said, patting down his unruly hair, to little avail.

"It's fine," said Luka. "It'll be quick."

"Uh," Len said, looking over at Miku, who either did not hear or did not want to answer Rin's question, "where are you guys going?"

"Here!" said Miku, pulling out a small and battered-looking receipt and waving it around.

"You're going to a receipt?" said Len, uncertainly.

"No, we're going to this bookstore," said Miku.

Rin sighed. "What? Are you serious? We're on vacation in the big city and the first thing you do in the morning is go to the bookstore? You already went to the bookstore yesterday."

"It's for a good reason! I need to exchange a book," Miku put the receipt in her pocket. "Like, the story inside is all messed up."

Rin shook her head. "I see." She flopped back down on the bed in apparent dismissal. "Sorry about all this, Luka."

"It's fine," said Luka, again. "Will you and Len be back at the club tonight?"

Rin shot up. "What? We can go again? Really?"

"Uh, yeah-"

"Of course we will!" Len interrupted.

Rin grinned at her brother. "You just want to see that Gumi person again, right?"

Len blushed. "N-no, I just wanted to go."

Miku sighed and started to push Luka in the direction of the door. "Okay, let's go. See you two later."

xxx

The bookstore Miku had purchased not-_Breakfast at Tiffany's_ at was a small establishment, tucked away in an unassuming corner of town. It seemed to intentionally frustrate people who wanted to find it - for one, the only mark of its existence from outside was a small sign with the name of the store in such faded letters that one had to squint in order to make it out. Furthermore, it was located in a block of bland-looking office buildings and was on the third floor of an undistinguished place that also housed a printer company, a scissors-manufacturing company, and a store that sold dolls.

Luka stared. "How did you _find_ this place?"

"Huh? Is it that hard to find?" Miku glanced around. "It's pretty famous on the internet, you know. They sell rare books here."

"_Breakfast at Tiffany's_ isn't a rare book."

"I picked it up here after I got some other books," Miku said as she opened the narrow door to the building and stepped inside. Luka followed her. The building smelled musty, the walls plain white plaster, the floor a dirty blue linoleum. It was a far cry from the sleek places Luka usually spent her time in, and once she was in, the atmosphere of the building pressed heavily around her, as though it somehow knew that she was an outsider.

They climbed up the stairs until they reached the third floor, and at the third floor, Miku opened the wooden door to the bookstore. Inside was dark and crowded, the door leading straight into a corridor of shelves jam-packed with books, almost overflowing - with some examination, Luka found that the books were doubled up as two rows on each shelf. The air smelled strongly of grassy aged paper, and the floor creaked with each step. Did Miku seriously spend most of her time in places like these? The bookstore was so labyrinthine Luka was forced to closely follow Miku in order to find her way to the cashier. She tried to keep track of where she was through the signs and labels on the shelves, but they were so vague, they eventually blurred together.

Abruptly, Miku stopped walking, and Luka almost bumped into her. She looked around. Miku was standing in front of a plain wooden door marked 'Cashier' in golden letters, the 'a' slightly askew. Luka stared. The door was hidden so deep in the bookstore that it seemed to actively discourage people from paying for their books.

"What," said Luka, flatly. "How does this place stay in business?"

Miku glanced back at Luka before gesturing around the bookstore. "I told you, they sell rare books here, used and new."

Luka looked around at the bookshelves that crowded around them. Thin bands of light revealed particles of dust spiraling in the air. "With a set up like this, it's like a maze. Can't people just steal the books?"

Miku looked horrified at the very thought. "What? Of course not!"

Luka picked out a random book and examined the price. It was too much. She put it back. "I guess if you overcharge on every book, you'd stay in business."

Miku looked as though she was about to protest, but then the door opened and a man stepped out. He glanced briefly at Miku and Luka before leaving, and Miku caught the door before it closed and went inside, Luka following after her.

The interior of the room was surprisingly spacious compared to the cramped store, with a window that offered a scenic view of the parking lot, a large oak desk, and several bookshelves. There was a man - the bookseller, Luka assumed - seated behind the desk, deep in concentration as he stared at the screen of his laptop, cash register to his right.

"Um," said Miku. "Do you know what book this is?" She offered not-_Breakfast at Tiffany's_ to the man. "It's not _Breakfast at Tiffany's_."

The bookseller took it and examined it from all angles before opening it and looking through a few pages. "Oh, this," he said. "It's a misprint."

"Right," said Miku. "We would like to exchange it."

The bookseller put the book down and smiled. "You're in luck. It was a printing mishap with the publishers, I had several complaints already, and I just received new copies of _Breakfast at Tiffany's_ today, so we can do an exchange-"

"No," Luka interrupted, "I don't want _Breakfast at Tiffany's_. I want the book that's inside this copy of _Breakfast at Tiffany's_. The misprint."

The bookseller blinked and adjusted his glasses. "You want the misprint?" He stared up at the ceiling, as if in thought, before nodding quickly. "Right. The publisher mentioned something like this. They said that some prints of Breakfast at Tiffany's got mixed up with some prints of a new book by an author named, let's see, Kaitlyn T. Perry. It's a new translation, so these things happen."

"Do you have it?" asked Luka.

The bookseller nodded. "Yes. It's called _On A Friday Night_."

"Great," Luka already had her wallet out. "How much?"

xxx

When they left the store, both with their own copies of _On A Friday Night_ and with an exchanged copy of _Breakfast at Tiffany's,_ the sky was clear, the streets muggy with summer heat.

"What did you think?" asked Miku.

Luka glanced back at the bookstore, already fading away in the distance. The heat made the office buildings shimmer, as though she was seeing them through distorted glass. "Of the store? It was crowded. You really like to spend your time in there?"

Miku shrugged. "What's the difference between that and your club? The bookstore is crowded with books, and your club is crowded with people."

"It's different," said Luka. "See, in clubs, you can talk to people."

Miku laughed. "What, how can you _talk_ to people in a club? It's so loud!"

Luka frowned. "We talked fine yesterday."

"Really? We barely talked in the club." Miku looked at her copy of _On A Friday Night_ and flipped it over to look at the back cover. There was a picture of the author, a young-looking black-haired woman. "So what's this book about?"

"The first chapter was the only chapter I read," said Luka. "It's about a girl in a remote mountain village. It's really interesting, trust me."

"Sure, of course," said Miku with a smile, tearing off the shrink-wrap of the book. "You're Megurine Luka after all, I trust you."

Luka cringed at the use of her full name. It sounded mocking out of Miku's mouth, even though she said the words in a friendly manner, and in this part of town, the part lined with bland office buildings and convenience stores, the reference to Luka's status as nightclub heiress seemed out of place, like something from a completely different world. In an effort to stave off the embarrassment, Luka busied herself with taking off the shrink-wrap of her own book, and was halfway through when her cellphone rang. Startled, she fumbled with her book, almost dropping it, before answering her phone. "Hello?"

"Hey Luka," said Gakupo over the phone. "What's up?"

"Not much," said Luka, voice cool, though she glanced nervously at Miku. "I'm just wandering around."

"In _this_ weather?"

"Yeah."

"Wow. Hardcore." Gakupo yawned. "Lily's been pitching a fit. Something happen last night?"

Luka couldn't think of a single reason for Lily to be upset. By all rights, _Luka_ should be the one upset about last night. She had gotten ditched-rejected by Miku in front of her friends and the whole club, and then Miku proceeded to lend her the wrong book, and today, the first thing Luka did after reading the book (or the first seventeen pages of it) was go to some shady maze-like bookstore to get a new book. "What? No."

"Really?" said Gakupo. "Okay. Club opens at ten, right?"

Luka sighed. "Yeah, sure...I'll put you on the guestlist." After some perfunctory thanks, Gakupo hung up. Luka went back to struggling with her shrinkwrap, a process that seemed entirely too complicated. After several moments, she managed to wrest the book free and tossed the wrap into a trashcan.

"Was that a friend?" Miku said, breaking the silence.

"Yeah," said Luka. "He wanted to be put on the guestlist for the club."

Miku looked over at Luka, interest apparently piqued. "Why, does that get you in easier?"

Luka nodded. "On the guestlist, you don't have to wait as long. Plus, you don't have to pay a cover charge."

"Oh," said Miku. "That sounds convenient. So basically, if you're friends with _the_ Megurine Luka, you get those kinds of benefits?"

Luka winced, again, at Miku's use of her full name. For some reason, she couldn't quite shake the feeling that Miku was mocking her, though the girl's expression was so guileless and innocent, Luka had no idea if she was or if she wasn't. "Um, right, you do."

"That's nice," said Miku with a smile. "So your friends sit with you at the club and get bottle service and everything?"

Luka looked at Miku, surprised. "Well, yeah. Did you think that I spent time in my own club standing around the bar?"

"That's what you were doing last night," said Miku, shrugging.

"No, I had a table. It was on the second floor." Luka wasn't sure why she was explaining all this to Miku, who could probably care less about such things, but it felt weird to stop her explanation half-way. "I just came down to, um..." Luka trailed off. She couldn't exactly tell Miku the real reason why she came down.. "...to greet you and Rin and Len," she finished lamely.

Miku raised her eyebrows. "Wow, so you came _all_ the way down to the first floor just to talk to me and my friends? You do that to newcomers to Club World's End?" From her tone, Luka couldn't tell if Miku genuinely thought that Luka took the time to personally go down and greet newcomers at Club World's End, or if Miku was being cheeky.

"It's not that far of a walk," Luka said, cheeks heating up against her will.

Miku grinned. "True. It's not like the trek downstairs is a major undertaking. Well, you seem like you're a nice person."

There it was, that word again - 'nice'. Luka snuck a glance at Miku, whose expression was blandly cheerful. Shit. Luka genuinely could not tell if Miku was teasing her or if Miku was actually just that naive. It wasn't as though Luka could just go straight out and _ask_ either. If it had been any other person, she would have assumed that they were teasing her, but after Miku's apparent naivete last night, she wasn't so sure.

After a few more minutes of walking, they arrived at the Wintermute. The streets were thick and congested back in the more populated sectors of the city, forcing Miku and Luka to stand back against the walls of the hotel to avoid getting jostled around. Miku glanced back at the doors to the lobby before turning to face Luka.

"So," said Miku, smiling, "we'll read through this book and call each other up about it, sound good?"

"Sure," said Luka, and realized belatedly that she was still holding the book in her hands. She put it back in her bag. "Yeah, just text me or something."

"Great. Sorry about all the confusion, by the way," Miku looked a little sheepish. "I didn't know that the book I gave you was so messed up."

Luka shrugged. "It's fine. I wouldn't like to go to that bookstore again though."

"Yeah, suit yourself," said Miku with a laugh. "It's kind of exciting though, right? Oh," Miku perked up, eyes bright as a grin spread on her face, "I read a book with a plot like this before! So there's this guy - well, it's written in second-person, but it's a guy - who started out reading a book, and then the rest of the book was blank, and he kept reading more and more books since he wanted to find out how the book ended, but he couldn't finish any of the other books either because-"

Luka raised a hand. "Don't get ahead of yourself, you'll jinx _our_ books."

xxx

Back at home, Luka sat down at the table with a sandwich she bought from a convenience store and her copy of _On A Friday Night_. Finally she could find out what happened next. For a book, all of this had taken entirely too much effort. Still, at least it was over now, and she had the actual book in her hands, ready to be read, its weight solid and grounding.

Luka opened the book. She was partway through the first sentence when she realized that the story she was reading had nothing to do with _Breakfast at Tiffany's _or scarred women in remote mountain villages.

In fact, it was a completely different story.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey everyone, long time no see! Work got a hold of me. As always, thanks for the reviews, faves, and alerts! Hope you enjoy! **

* * *

_20th September 1927_

_Michaela,_

_Last night was terrible. Couldn't sleep, kept thinking about the dolls, the little Russian nesting ones. Allen gave me one as a gift and it's sitting on my desk where I can look at it but it's like it's staring back at me. Head hurts after the balloon party Liliane threw. Don't feel well. They were cutting up cake in there that was shaped like my diary and for a moment I thought they knew and were cutting it up to spite me, but I was just being paranoid again. It feels as though I've been here before. Do you ever think we're all spinning around in wheels?_

_Didn't see you at the party even though you promised you'll come. Allen told me that you were with Elluka. I don't understand why you're getting closer to her but you have to be very careful. Trust me. I know I haven't been very reliable lately but I know what I'm saying because Michaela, Elluka was there when they were cutting up my diary-cake, and she kept_ looking at me _as though she knew, there was just this horrible glint in her eyes. Awful. I wanted to stab them out with a fork but she just asked where you were. Don't worry, I pretended not to know, but I think she suspects, or knows, what is going on..._

With a sigh, Luka put the book down and took a bite out of her sandwich. No matter how much she looked at it, this was not the book she read in _Breakfast at Tiffany's._ The names of the characters were completely different, and it was written in an epistolary format whereas the story inside _Breakfast at Tiffany's_ was written in third person.

Luka scowled at the book as though by doing so she could force the words back in the order of the book she wanted to read, but it was of no use. As long as she had the book though, she might as well read it, at least until she finishes her sandwich. Luka flipped through the book, reading through the pages. It about an unnamed girl's descent into madness, written solely in letters. The girl began to think that her days were inescapable, and in fact, an eerie similarity in days was happening in the book - instances of deja vu occurred over and over until the narrator seemed to anticipate them. The purpose of the journal itself that the narrator was so obsessed with, however, was obscure - the narrator never really said what was in her journal, only making veiled references as to its contents. As time went on, the narrator's voice became increasingly confused until Luka found it hard to tell if she was paranoid or if there really were all these forces conspiring against her. The person the letters were addressed to, Michaela, seemed to be getting more and more distant by the day, and in one anguish-filled sentence, the narrator wondered if Michaela was ever her friend at all.

Luka was in that state where one turned pages without realizing that one was turning them, carried along by the currents of the story. She was at the part where the narrator was rambling madly in the text about the Russian nesting dolls Allen kept giving her, talking about how they all fit inside one another, and then filling up a page with the words 'matryoshka' over and over and over, to the point of forgetting to sign off 'Sincerely, your dear friend'. Eager to find out what happened next, Luka turned the page, only to find that she had reached the end and all that was left was a blank black endpage staring back at her.

Luka stared at it in disbelief. Was that the end? It ended so abruptly. For a book, there had to be more, right? There had to be closure. Luka went through the same checking process she did for _Breakfast at Tiffany's_ - endpages, cover page, spine - until she found, written in tiny mauve letters at the endpages, the words _vol. 1._

So _that_ was it. Luka leaned back against the chair in relief. That was what was missing - she had only purchased the first volume. Luka laughed a little. For a moment, she had thought that the bookseller had messed up again, and...wait. Luka refocused herself. The bookseller _had_ messed up again. After all, what Luka read had absolutely nothing to do with train stations or scarred women or villagers. Now, she was hovering on the peak of suspense between _two_ stories - the one with the scarred girl, and the one with the insane girl. Great. So now she had to purchase volume two of this, as well as whatever the original story was. Luka checked her watch. It was three in the afternoon. She still had time to get to the bookstore, and it was so out of the way, it wasn't likely that she would be seen by anyone she actually knew.

In short, there was no harm in leaving for the bookstore to look for the book. For a moment, Luka hovered between staying or leaving - she still had to prepare for the club's opening - but with a shrug she decided to go. It wasn't _that _far, anyways.

On her way out, Luka took out her phone, scrolled down her address book until she found Miku's number, and texted her.

_Book was different. Same for you?_

Miku's reply came almost instantly.

_I got volume 3 of another book ;-;_

Volume 3? Luka's eyes narrowed and she looked at the book in her hand.

_I have v1, _she texted back. _I'm going to the bookstore now to get v2._

That said, Luka stepped outside and headed for the bookstore. It was hot and humid, the street before her shimmering like a mirage, a sharp contrast to the air conditioned interior of the club. It seemed to be even hotter than before, and Luka wanted nothing more than to get to the bookstore as fast as possible.

After some time, she arrived at the building that housed the store and ran up the stairs, taking the steps two at a time. Past the store that sold dolls, past the printer company, onto the third floor whereupon she took hold of the bookstore's doorknob and opened the door. It seemed to offer some resistance before it opened, as though the store itself recognized her status as an outsider before grudgingly allowing entrance.

Luka found herself once more in the musty bookstore. This time, the shelves seemed higher, the corridors they formed narrower. There were more stacks of books littered around than before that almost seemed to intentionally block Luka's way to the cashier, but that would be ridiculous. Luka held _On A Friday Night_ closer to herself, stepped over stacks, turned down what she remembered to be the right corridors, and eventually found herself back at the door that led to the cashier. The 'a' now was even more askew, almost upside down. Luka straightened it before entering.

Once again, the spaciousness of the interior room surprised her - the floor was covered by a rich scarlet rug with elaborate and colorful patterns woven into it, with several armchairs placed strategically throughout the room. Luka walked up to the desk the bookseller was seated at.

"Excuse me," she said, handing _On A Friday Night _to the bookseller. "I want the second volume of this. Also, this isn't _Breakfast at Tiffany's_."

The bookseller blinked. "_Breakfast at Tiffany's_...? Of course this isn't, _Tiffany's _was written by Truman Capote."

"No, I don't mean that...I was here earlier today, with a frie-acquaintance, and we had a misprint..." Luka trailed off once she saw the look of complete incomprehension on the bookseller's face. "You don't remember?"

The bookseller thought for a moment. "Well, let me see. We get a lot of visitors here, so..." He opened the book and looked through it, but as he did, his face grew slack. He closed the book after a few pages and handed it back to Luka.

"So...?" Luka asked, taking the book.

The bookseller looked at her. "I'm sorry," he said. "I don't remember selling you such a book."

"What? We were just here an hour ago," Luka said. "I don't know what kind of scam you're trying to pull here, but-"

"I'm sorry," said the bookseller, again, his face expressionless. "I'm afraid you'll have to leave."

"Wait. What about volume two?" Luka tried. "Just sell me the second volume. When you sold this to us earlier, my friend has the third volume. If you can't find the misprint, whatever, but you _have _to at least have volume two."

"You have to go," said the bookseller, and his tone brooked no further argument.

xxx

"What the hell?" Gakupo laughed, leaning back, drink in hand as he hovered around the bar. It was late, and the club was scheduled to open in fifteen minutes. "What's up with you, still sore about the rejection?"

The rejection was the farthest thing from Luka's mind. She focused on the soda she poured herself and checked her phone. Miku had not yet responded to the text Luka had sent her about the bookstore seven hours ago. "No," said Luka.

"Well, don't worry about it," Gakupo sipped his drink. "There are others out there." He gave her a firm pat on the back. "You going to Lily's House of Balloons party?"

Luka shrugged. "Maybe."

"Maybe?" Gakupo pulled back in mock surprise. "What's this 'maybe' talk? Of course you're going! You're _the _Megurine Luka, and it's _the _House of Balloons party."

Luka put a hand to her forehead and heaved a sigh. "Yeah. Yeah. I know. I'll go, I guess."

Gakupo laughed again and took another sip. "You're such a _downer _today, Luka, shit. Did something happen?"

Luka checked her phone again, suddenly feeling very tired. The last thing she wanted to do was stand around in the club, the last thing she wanted to do was go to a party - all she wanted to do was sleep. Somehow, she was sure that everything would make sense in the morning. The bookseller's vacant expression spiraled in her mind. What was taking Miku so long to reply? All Luka had was the knowledge that Rin and Len were planning to go to the club tonight, although, Luka wasn't sure if Miku would be coming as well. "Nothing happened."

Gakupo heaved a sigh. "Well, if you're going to clam up, then there's nothing I can do."

Luka checked her watch. It was about time for the club to open. Another wave of tiredness washed over her, and she walked over towards the door.

xxx

There was no Miku, no Rin, and no Len at the club. Luka lingered for two hours, talked with random people she couldn't remember too well, checked her phone over and over and over again. The only texts she received were drunk ones.

"You've been checking your phone a lot," Lily commented. The three of them - Luka, Lily, and Gakupo - were seated once more on the second floor overlooking the dance floor.

"She's been doing that _all day_," Gakupo groaned, falling back on the chair.

Luka sighed and rubbed her weary eyes, feeling an unfamiliar sense of resignation wash over her. There was nothing she could do, and her pride prevented her from sending Miku another text. Luka didn't want to send some pleading text asking for attention, because people gave it freely to her. "I'm just tired. Bored." She stared down at the dance floor, at the mass of people below.

"Ah, yes, the rich and bored look," Gakupo said. "Pulling that off pretty well." He turned towards Lily. "Still throwing that House of Balloons party tonight?"

Lily grinned. "Of course I am. We might not get tomorrow, you know?"

Luka got up. "I'm going to go take a nap. I'm pretty tired."

Gakupo glanced at her. "What, really? It's early."

"I didn't get much sleep last night." Luka turned to leave.

"'kay," said Lily, raising her hand in a half-wave. "See you later tonight, then."

xxx

Luka walked over to her bed and looked once more at her phone. There was still no reply from Miku. For a moment, hot irritation bubbled up in Luka's chest - who was this Miku person to ignore her texts? And after such an important thing, too; what was up with that bookseller earlier, anyways? With a sigh, Luka sat on her bed and picked up _On A Friday Night _from her bedside table, flipped through its end, black endpages, volume one - it was all so confusing.

Everything had been so normal before; now it's as though she's stuck in some kind of weird dream. Luka put the book back on the bedside table. There was nothing she could do about it now - she was too tired to deal with it. Later, perhaps - everything later. If she dreamed, would she wake up? A line from the book floated through her mind - _Do you ever think we're all spinning around in wheels? _

Luka sighed and fell back on the bed, letting the darkness of sleep overtake her.

xxx

Luka woke up to the sound of her phone ringing. Disoriented, she slowly opened her eyes. Despite having slept, she did not feel rested at all - in fact, it felt as though she had only just fell asleep. Luka rolled her eyes over to the window. Outside, the sky was dark, stars still shining, the moon a round white light. Luka stared at it blankly as her phone rang and rang before she groaned, got up, and picked up the phone.

"Hello?" she mumbled.

"Luka!" shouted Gakupo. "We're all at Lily's place for the House of Balloons party! You said you'd come, remember?"

Luka rubbed her eyes, heavy with sleep. "Seriously? I was sleeping."

There was a shocked silence at that, Gakupo saying nothing while the sounds of a party raged around him. Luka closed her eyes and fought the urge to drift off.

Gakupo broke the silence with a nervous laugh. "What? Very funny, it's way too early to go to _sleep_. Just a nap, right? Come on, we need you. It's not a real party without _the _Megurine Luka."

Luka sighed. It had been, she thought as she looked over at the book, an extremely long day. "Really?" Pause. "Who's there?"

"Oh," Gakupo said. "There's so many people here, you seriously want me to list them all? I mean, everyone's here. And those twins from last night, what were their names..."

"Rin and Len?" Luka offered, before a thought crystallized in her sleep-fogged head. "Wait, is Miku there?" If Rin and Len were there, odds were good that Miku was there too, and Luka _needed _to talk to her about the book, about everything. In a crowded party like that, their conversation would be drowned by the sound of the party, so there was no fear of being overheard. Besides, Miku had been missing all day after Luka's visit to the bookstore. If Luka could somehow find her at the party...the surge of energy this hope gave her was tremendous. The fogginess of sleep cleared away.

"Miku?" Gakupo said. "Who's Miku?"

Oh, right. Miku hadn't really talked to anyone other than Luka last night, so Gakupo wouldn't know who she was. "Nevermind. I'll go. Lily's, right?"

"I knew you wouldn't let us down!" Gakupo sounded as though he was grinning widely. "You're Megurine Luka, there's no way you would pass up a party like this."

"Yeah," Luka said. "No way." She hung up without saying anything else and sat there for a few moments, mind racing. She glanced at the clock. She had only been sleeping for thirty minutes. Figures. She walked over to her closet and began to change.

xxx

"Oh, you're here!" Gakupo said, smiling as he dragged Luka inside. "We've been waiting for you!"

"Thanks," said Luka, eyes casting around the party for Miku. There were a lot of people here, she noted. Considering how big Lily's house was, it would take a while to sift through everyone, and in that time, Miku might've moved around. Worst case, Luka wouldn't find Miku at all. Best to refine her search a little. "You know where Rin and Len are?"

"The twins? Uh..." Gakupo looked around. "Last time I saw them, they were on the goat."

"The goat," Luka repeated.

Gakupo nodded. "Yeah, there's a goat. Really cool. It's in the backyard."

Luka surreptitiously pinched herself. Nothing doing. "A...real goat?"

Gakupo looked at Luka, surprised. "Of course a real goat. You think we'd get a fake goat?"

"Why is there a _goat?_"

"Who cares?"

Luka gave up. "Excuse me," she muttered and left, pushing her way through people, absentmindedly greeting whoever greeted her first along the way. The party seemed garish, the strobe lights overly bright, the balloons that littered the floor and floated to the ceiling tacky in their colorfulness. The music was a dull underwater throb, the crowd blurred together. Luka walked down a corridor, turned left, and opened the door to the kitchen, which took on a phantasmagorical quality, with people laughing wildly as they prepared to cut a giant slab of cake shaped like, disturbingly enough, the book the bookseller gave Luka, complete with the title of the novel. She stopped and stared at it.

"Nice cake," she said to one of the people there.

"Isn't it?" said the girl Luka was talking to, eyes fixed admiringly on the cake. She had goggles hanging around her neck for some reason, and it was with a small jolt when Luka realized that this was Gumi. "Someone just rang the doorbell a half-hour ago and dropped it off."

"Do you know where Miku is?" asked Luka.

Gumi glanced at her. "Miku? Who's Miku?"

Luka sighed. "Nevermind. Len's here, right?"

"Oh, Len," said Gumi, a slow smile appearing on her face. "Yeah. Yeah, he's here. Are you looking for him?"

"Well, I'm looking for his friend..."

"Len's playing pool now, I think," said Gumi. "Do you want some cake? It's huge."

Luka glanced at the book-shaped cake. Although, was it really book-shaped? Cakes were usually rectangular, and it was perfectly possible that the title, _On A Friday Night_, was a misinterpretation of the title of the pop song _Last Friday Night_. The book was getting to her. There was no way the cake would actually be shaped like the book. Luka shook her head impatiently, clearing it.

"You want some?" Gumi asked, again.

"Uh," said Luka. "No, that's fine. I'm pretty full. Thanks." She smiled half-heartedly before turning and walking off. The crowd was like a malleable wall that Luka had to press through. The floor was shaking as she waded through the giant mass of people. She knew where the pool table was, roughly, and walked there with single-minded determination.

In stark comparison to the rest of the party, the pool room was almost completely empty save for Len, who was staring at the pool table, and a few stray balloons. In here, the music of the party was dulled - all that was audible was the bass beat. At the sight of him, Luka felt a wave of relief; Len was here, so chances were good that Miku could be here as well.

"Len," said Luka, and the boy turned to look at her. He broke into a smile.

"Luka!" he cried. "You're here! Do you want to play pool?"

"No, it's fine. Did Miku come with you and Rin?"

Len stared up at the ceiling, eyebrows furrowed in thought. "Oh, geez, _did _Miku come with us?" He placed his fingers to his forehead. "I can't remember...sorry, Luka. My head's a mess." He laughed.

Luka nodded. "Okay. Why are you here alone?"

Len looked a little bashful. "Um, I just felt kind of tired. Wanted to be away from all the noise..." he trailed off. "Hey, have you seen Gumi? We went here together. I don't have her number, and it's too loud, so it's not like I can just call her."

"Gumi's in the kitchen," said Luka. "Do you know where Rin is?"

"Rin?" said Len. "Oh, I don't know, we got separated. I mean, last time I saw her, she was playing Rock Band upstairs." He looked at Luka. "Hey, are you okay?"

Luka realized that she had been leaning against the wall, eyes blinking slowly, about to fall asleep, and quickly she pushed back against the wall so that she was standing a little straighter. "I'm fine. Fine."

Len frowned. "Are you sure? You didn't drink too much, right? You look unsteady."

"No, really, I'm fine," said Luka. "Rock Band upstairs, right? Great, thanks for your help." With that, she walked out of the pool room and back into the party, looking around to get her bearings. She was standing in the backyard. Luka turned around and went back inside, where she found herself in a near-overflowing living room - there were so many balloons that she practically had to wade through them. She walked through the kitchen, where the cake was still being distributed, and into a long hallway that was once empty but was now full of people. The hallway ended in a dining room, where a table was littered with empty bags of snacks and bottles. There was a door to Luka's right. She went through it and emerged in a lounge area, where finally, there were the stairs, decorated with a multitude of streamers and of course, balloons. Luka walked up.

The stairs were circular and seemed to last forever. Light shone from above, so much that it seemed as though Luka was climbing into the heart of the sun, but it was only an overly bright chandelier, and the light somehow faded the higher she climbed until she found herself on the second floor, which was as crowded as the first. If Rin was playing Rock Band, she should be in a room close by, and Luka made her way there.

Sure enough, there was Rin, standing before a large TV with a few other people, enthusiastically strumming a guitar controller. Luka was too tired to care about interrupting the game at the moment. She walked up to Rin and put a hand on her shoulder. To Rin's credit, she didn't stop playing, her eyes fixed on the screen as her fingers danced effortlessly on brightly colored plastic buttons.

"Hey Rin," said Luka. "Did you come with Miku?"

"Miku?" said Rin. "Yeah, she's here."

Luka blinked, alert once more. "She is? Where?"

Rin shrugged. "She's probably-yes!" she broke away from Luka and raised her hands in the air. "I scored a perfect! Finally! I'm the master!"

"Where is Miku?" Luka repeated, but Rin was turning around, grinning, pushing the guitar controller onto Luka's hands.

"Why are you so focused on finding Miku?" Rin said, laughing. "You already spent the whole day with her! Come on, play a song with me."

"I need to tell her something," said Luka as she tried to push the guitar controller away.

"Oh, you need to _tell _her something," Rin broke into giggles.

Luka took a deep breath and tried to quell her rising impatience. "Look, Rin, I came to this party to find her. Where is she?"

"Okay, okay, since you're so desperate to know, I'll tell you," Rin grinned, looking as though she had just stumbled onto some juicy piece of news. "I'll get the details out of Miku later. Last time I saw her, she was in Lily's room."

Luka stared at Rin, her stomach dropping. That was one bit of news she didn't expect to hear. "She's in...Lily's room? Why's she in _Lily's _room?"

Rin shrugged. "How would I know? I guess she's more popular than I thought."

That sentence did nothing to ease Luka's mood. "Thanks," she muttered, turning towards the door. "I gotta go."

xxx

Luka was familiar enough with how to get to Lily's room that she got there soon. The door was closed. Luka opened it, heart pumping fast.

The inside of Lily's room was dark. Luka turned on the lights.

The room was completely ransacked, drawers roughly opened, clothes thrown everywhere. Miku was sitting on the bed, eyes somewhat dazed as she paged through a book. Luka closed the door behind her and ran over to her.

"Miku!" Luka shouted, before she realized that there wasn't really any need to shout - in Lily's room, the sound of the music was muted - and she lowered her voice. "Miku."

Miku glanced up from the book, eyes registering faint surprise. "Oh, Luka." She patted the space next to her in invitation to sit and Luka sat. "What's up?"

What's _up?_ There was so much 'up' that Luka didn't even know where to start. Best to start out with something easy. "Uh...why're you in Lily's room?" She paused and looked at Miku's clothing, and then the rest of the room. Luka swallowed. She had to ask, even though she was dreading the answer. "Why are there clothes everywhere?"

Miku smiled. "Why do you want to know?"

"Um, I..." Luka began, but she couldn't think of anything and trailed off. Miku looked at her for a few moments longer before turning her attention back to the book.

"Don't worry," she said. "Nothing happened."

Luka frowned. "Why are you here? The lights were off."

Miku sighed, put the book down, and rested her head on Luka's shoulder, a tangible weight. The floral scent of Miku's shampoo drifted up to Luka's nose. "I don't know," Miku mumbled. "I'm just tired, I guess."

Something about Miku's demeanor put Luka a little on edge. This wasn't the cheerful bookworm she talked to earlier today. It was with some trepidation when Luka asked, "Did you get my text?"

For a moment, Miku looked at Luka blankly before some circuit lit up in her mind and she laughed. "Oh, my phone's battery ran out. It's been dead all day. I didn't get it, no."

Something about that didn't ring true to Luka - when she last saw Miku, it was when she was dropping her off at the Wintermute. Wouldn't it be logical for Miku to have charged her phone there if it was low? Unless she forgot to. It was possible, although, to forget to charge your phone for who knows how many hours was pushing it. "Uh...okay. Basically when I went to the bookstore the bookseller wouldn't sell me the second volume, and then he told me to get out. He wouldn't sell me the actual continuation of the story inside _Breakfast at Tiffany's _either."

"Oh really?" said Miku, not sounding very surprised.

"There's just, everything's _wrong_," Luka said, the words rushing out of her. "Ever since then, things have been off. It's like I'm just spinning around in circles trying to find out about all these books."

Miku didn't answer, and it took Luka a little while to realize that she was sleeping, her breathing slow and even. Luka looked around the room before her eyes hit upon the book Miku had been looking at before she came in. She looked at Miku. Her eyes were closed. Slowly, Luka reached out for Miku's book and took it. It was an old leather-bound tome that looked completely out of place in Lily's room. Was this Lily's? But why would Lily have a fancy book like this? Luka glanced around. There were no other books to be found in Lily's room - only clothes and open drawers. Was Miku the one who did that? But for what? To find this book? Why else? If that was the case then, what could possibly be inside this book that would make Miku want to find it so badly?

Luka looked at Miku again. Still sleeping. Slowly, Luka opened the book, the spine cracking audibly as she did, and began to read.


End file.
